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Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Apple Watch and all about Complications

Researching
and learning – from fiction – that’s what I should have called this blog post!

I read
a lot of books. Several a week… but nearly all fiction. And of those books,
nearly all are genre fiction. Thrillers, cop stories, amateur sleuths,
detectives from Canada, North America and around the world. I read them all.
And I have to say I have always learned a huge amount (aside from who dunnit) -
everything from geography to culture, languages, music, and yes, technology.

In one
of my latest, “Dead Man’s Time” by Peter James, the term “complications” was
used to describe part of a valuable watch. Wow, I thought. Same as the Apple
Watch I so covet!

In
case you were wondering, Peter James is an international best-selling British
writer of crime fiction, and author of the Roy Grace series. Here’s the
description of Dead Man’s Time, from his website: “A vicious robbery at a secluded
Brighton mansion leaves its elderly occupant dying. And millions of pounds' worth
of valuables have been taken. But, as Detective Superintendent Roy Grace,
heading the enquiry, rapidly learns, there is one priceless item of sentimental
value that the old woman's powerful family cherish above all else. And they are
fully prepared to take the law into their own hands, and will do anything,
absolutely anything, to get it back.”

The
watch in question is a Patek Phillippe.

From Wikipedia, I learned that, “Patek Philippe
& Co. (PP)
is a Swiss ultra-luxury watch manufacturer founded in 1851, located in Geneva and
the Vallée de Joux. It designs and manufactures timepieces and movements
including some of the most complicated mechanical watches. It is considered by
many experts and aficionados to be one of the most prestigious watch brands.”

The
website for Patek Phillippe watches states, “A 'complication' is any additional
horological function to the display of hours, minutes and seconds.”

“Complicated
watches made by Patek Phillippe are assigned to one of two categories.

Complications: watches with one or several
additional hands that have a timing function such as Annual Calendar, dual time
zones, multiple time zones (World Time), power reserve indication, 10-day power
reserve, indication of the state of wind of the movement.

A Forbes article from September 2013 stated that a Patek Phillippe Grand
Complication sold for a record $2.25 million. Now we are into the territory of
my Peter James novel!

And I see why Apple might want to adopt the
term “complication” for aspects of its own watch.

In an
article on ZDnet from September 2015, I read that “complications” are the feature
that enable you to put information directly on the Apple watch face. The story
notes. “Complications (as opposed to Glances) are a different beast, starting with
the strange name that Apple has chosen. Many Apple Watch faces have tiny areas
on the display that can show information at a glance. These info gizmos
currently consist of calendar events, local temperature, and watch battery
level but can be anything the developer wants to present.

“These
can be selected by the user on the watch face selection screen by tapping on a
Complications area and then spinning through the available information options
with the Digital Crown…

“The
uses for Complications are only limited by the imagination of the app
developer. Properly conceived and executed they can be as useful as the Apple
Watch Glances, perhaps more so given the in-your-face nature of Complications.”

After
first finishing the mystery novel, and then looking up the above info, I now
totally see why Apple chose the term “complications” for that type of
functionality. I guess I wonder a bit about the marketing strategy, though. The
association with the history and cachet of Patek Phillippe is perfect, and the use of the term
makes sense in both the mechanical and digital watch worlds.

But how
many of us potential Apple Watch buyers know enough about the high-end
timepiece to make the connection?

How many
of us just thought it a “strange name,” as did the author of the article on
ZDnet?

Anyway,
I am glad I know now. I feel like a real watch-technology insider.I just hope the price of an Apple Watch does
not follow in the steps of Patek Phillippe!